Poverty and Drug Abuse Addiction

One popular stereotype associated with drug use is that it is rampant among the poor. However, this is not entirely true since insufficient money linked with the poor cannot probably sustain drug use. The link between the two factors is multifaceted, and the connectedness of poverty is complex. Poverty entails unstable family and interpersonal associations, low-skilled jobs and low status, high arrest degrees, illegitimacy, school dropping out, deprived physical health, high mental conditions, and high mortality rates. Such factors resemble those conditions associated with drug use.

Addiction and drug use do not have a single cause, but poverty is among the risk factors linked with drug use.

An individual living in poverty may choose alcohol or drug abuse as a way of coping with the unfavorable circumstances in which they live, dealing with financial stressors, or dealing with emotional or physical abuse. Mostly, impoverished neighborhoods have easy access to drugs or alcohol, and some individuals from such neighborhoods sell these drugs with the anticipation of overcoming poverty. The central purpose of this paper is to enlighten my audience concerning impoverished people who struggle with addiction. The fundamental notion is that addiction is among individuals’ key reasons for poverty.

1. In excess of five hundred and fifteen thousand Americans who died as a result of a drug overdose as of 2016; the majority were from poor neighborhoods, where researchers revealed the existence of few job opportunities.

1. Social and economic conditions seem to be facilitating the topographical variations in drug overdose rates, with some areas of the nation having weightier burdens than others.
2. People from lower-middle or poor-class regions are probably at an increased risk of abusing alcohol or drugs to deal with their financial stress, inadequate treatment resources, and insufficient education concerning substance abuse.
3. Research conducted in the medicine and social science disciplines indicated that people with poor or lower socioeconomic status would likely participate in binge or heavy drinking.

2. In excess of five hundred and fifteen thousand Americans who died due to a drug overdose as of 2016, research has established that the majority dwelled in poor regions with few job opportunities. The trend seems to suggest that social and economic conditions determine regional variations in drug overdose rates, whereby some regions are more burdened than others, as observed by the study pioneer Shannon Monnat, an associate professor of sociology at Syracuse University in New York. Also, John Auerbach, president and chief executive officer of the Trust for America’s Health, affirmed that as long as poverty and insufficient job opportunities are not dealt with as risk elements, the drug epidemic will continue to be prevalent.

1. Auerbach observes that there is a remarkable correlation between drug overdoes as well as economic and social factors in people’s lives. With the constant struggle with opioids, there is a need to think about overdose and treatment and focus on the social contributing factors of drug abuse and addiction.
2. Based on what experts say, it is important to check some statistics. The general overdose rate amounting to death in the United States was approximately seventeen deaths per one hundred thousand individuals. However, the rate differed broadly from one county to the other.
3. Based on the statistics, death rates as a result of drugs were suggestively higher in counties considered poor and those with high rates of family distress. Handling social and poverty issues is essential to halt drug deaths since such deaths influence health care, stress levels, social support, and availability of services.

3. People from lower-middle-class or poor neighborhood are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol due to financial distress, lack of enough resources for treatment, and insufficient knowledge concerning drug abuse.

1. Research published in the medicine and social science disciplines indicated that people associated with a poor or lower socioeconomic status would likely participate in binge or heavy drinking, while people from higher socioeconomic ranks were more likely to participate in social or light drinking.
2. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) approximates that thirty-four point seven per cent of homeless adults who dwell in shelters have alcohol or drug use disorders. Nevertheless, this number does not include the thousands of homeless people living on unsheltered streets.
3. With the above contributions in mind, it is time to discuss the socioeconomic factors of the issue. According to research, when a nation possesses a middle class that is healthy and has a moderate or low economic inequality level, rates of addiction are minimal amongst the middle class, and by the age of thirty years, almost half of the addictions disappear, even devoid of treatment. However, high inequality levels and unsubstantiated employment levels lead to the shrinking of the middle class, increasing the risk of individuals likely to fall into addictions and minimizing their chances of early-life recovery.
4. There is a lot of data that support the link between socioeconomic aspects, addiction as well as recovery. To start with, heroin addiction is three times more prevalent in individuals earning below twenty thousand dollars yearly, likened to those earning fifty thousand dollars or more per year, and having higher education levels and minimal addiction rates.
5. The link between inequality and addiction rates has long dominated the research regarding its health effects. Serious mental outcomes are common in states with high inequality levels and addiction issues compared to those with minimum dramatic variations between the one per cent and everybody else.
6. Secondly, survey data for decades also reveal that the rate of addiction among individuals without employment is normally about two times higher in employed individuals. Some of the overall unemployment results from job loss due to addiction. However, an assessment of this body of language implies that, in several cases, unemployment constitutes addiction and minimizes the chances of recovery.

In conclusion, addiction is highly linked with poverty as a means of distraction rather than substance abuse itself being costly. Most impoverished individuals turn to substance abuse as a way of coping with grave issues happening or existing in their lives. Poor living, such as hand-to-mouth or paycheck-to-paycheck, attracts drug usage, which provides the needed instant gratification that may be essentially missing in all other life aspects.

Works Cited

1. “”Maia Szalavitz.”” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, www.theguardian.com/ profile/maia-szalavitz.
   Reinberg, Steven. “”U.S. Opioid ODs Cluster in Centers of Poverty.”” WebMD, WebMD, www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/news/20180326/us-opioid-ods-cluster-in-centers-of poverty#2.
2. “”The Financial Toll of Addktion.”” DrugAbuse.com, 30 Nov. 2017, drug-abuse.com/ financial-toll-addiction/.
3. Tim Winter. “”Addiction among Socioeconomic Groups.”” Sunrise House, Tim Winter, 18 Aug. 2017, sunrisehouse.com/addiction-demographics/socioeconomic-groups/.

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